Page 107 of My Mafia Queen

“At work,” I say evenly, my nerves concealed by a veneer of indifference.

“I didn’t ask you where we were tonight?”

My eyebrows wiggle up.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Where were you these past few weeks? You were never here when I came home.”

“I was here.”

The oil sizzles, so I shift my focus to the pan.

I run the spatula across the bottom and fold and stir the eggs before lowering the heat and turning it off when they are just fluffy but not runny, just perfect to eat.

“Here where? Tina isn’t here either.”

“I thought Stella told you we were at Edith’s.”

He moves toward the middle of the kitchen while I pull out a plate from the cupboard and invite him to eat for the second time.

He ignores me, grabs a glass, and pours himself a drink. The scent of whiskey overpowers the smell of fried eggs.

Not minding him, I start to eat.

“Why has Tina stayed at Edith’s for so long?”

“She’s helping her with her homework.”

Facing the window, he guzzles down whiskey.

“And what are you doing?” he asks.

“I’m working double shifts,” I say around my food. “I asked them for extra work, and they gave me another shift.”

“For?”

He’s trying to be clever.

“Money.”

“Where is the money?” he asks, pivoting around with an‘I gotcha you’look on his face.

I hold his gaze for a moment before rolling the hemline of my hoodie up and digging inside my pocket.

He watches me with curious eyes.

I pull out a few one-hundred dollar bills and put them on the table.

“That’s it?” he mutters. “That’s four hundred dollars,” he sneers in the voice of someone pilfering my earnings.

“I’m not working double shifts for four hundred dollars,” I retort as if we’re in on this together, and I’m insulted by his words.

I pull out the rest of the money,

“It’s about three thousand dollars. That’s the money I have made this month. I used the rest to buy food for Tina. And I left a part with Stella to stock up the fridge,” I say, pointing to my eggs.

I resume eating while watching him closely.

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